Will the next Fujicron be the 18mm Mark II?

Fujifilm is pretty good about keeping us in-the-loop about upcoming lenses with their Lens Roadmap. Now that the 3rd ‘Fujicron’ lens (the 50mmf2) is due to ship at the end of this month, we’re wondering what the next compact f2 prime will be.

Fuji’s XF Lens Roadmap as of July 2016

Possibilities

Fans of the 28mm Full Frame field of view would like a new version of the 18mm f2. 18mm is the widest FOV supported by the X-Pro2‘s optical viewfinder and seems like a good choice for the next Fujicron. More on that below.

The 60mm Macro could do with an upgrade, it’s a really sharp lens but the AF is probably the slowest of all the Fuji lenses. But with a 50mm just released and an 80mm Macro due later this year, I’m not sure Fuji would remake the 60mm so soon.

Anything longer than 60mm would probably be hard to keep in the compact Fujicron format, but what about wider? The 14mm f2.8 is Fuji’s fourth oldest prime; landscape photographers would welcome a weather sealed version. Would a 14mm f2 be possible? Take Kayo thinks an f2 could be done without adding too much size–if the focus clutch is removed.

The original XF18mmf2

A 16mmf2 is another candidate; the 16mm f1.4 produces gorgeous images but the lens is quite heavy and large. An f2 version would be much smaller and satisfy a lot of users.

Released in 2012, the 18mm f2 is one of Fuji’s three original X mount lenses. Given it’s age, an upgrade wouldn’t be unwarranted.

People either love the 18mmf2 for its tiny pancake format and unique rendering, or hate it for its grindy aperture ring and soft corners.

While speedy AF isn’t as much of a deal on wide-angle lenses, quiet internal focusing, tighter build quality, and weather sealing would all be welcome upgrades for a Mark II version.

If the 18mm is really the next Fuji prime, there’s still plenty of questions to be asked. Can they keep the rendering and fix the corner sharpness? Will the new lens still be a pancake or will it look more like the tapered Fujicrons? Should we even call a pancake lens a Fujicron? We’ll have to wait and see.

Yes! When I owned the 16mm f1.4, I greatly enjoyed the field of view, but it’s size prevented me from using it often. A Fujicron sized 16 would be a welcome addition if Fuji decides not to remake the 18mm.